ELYRIA — Elyria City Schools art students have started a sticky tradition with projects on display on a Christmas tree at Playhouse Square in Cleveland.
The students used Duck Tape to create about 120 ornaments, 120 feet of garland and a tree base, said Mel Rainey, art department chair at Elyria High School.
Duck Tape is a brand of duct tape which evolved from traditional silver or gray, matching furnace ducts, to many colors and designs.
Rainey said about 90 students in three art foundation classes worked through sticky concepts for two months.
The ornaments range in size from 3 inches to 6 inches in diameter, and include star shapes, pine cones, dangles, ornate objects, some that resemble Faberge eggs and crazy designs, Rainey said.
The students used about 80 rolls of Duck Tape, he said.
ShurTech Brands, headquartered in Avon, markets and manufactures products for handy people such as Duck Tape and Frog Tape, as well as home and office products.
Elyria City Schools became involved with ShurTech Brands last year when two teachers combining art and computers in a visual media class approached the company about using Duck Tape to create animals designed on a computer, Rainey said.
The company donated tape for the project, and asked the students to decorate a ShurTech corporate float for a Duck Tape Festival, Rainey said.
This marked the first year for the Duck Tape Christmas ornaments, he said.
To view the ornaments, visit the Festival of Trees at Playhouse Square on weekdays from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., on Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., and on Sundays from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. through Dec. 30, at 1407 Euclid Ave. in Cleveland.
For holiday hours, visit the Cleveland Playhouse website at www.clevelandplayhouse.com/events/festival-of-trees.